Public’s input on wildlife needed

I’ll never forget the time I was giving two visiting German foresters a tour of the Okanogan National Forest.

Over every hill and around every corner, their first question was always the same: “Who owns these trees, and whose land is this?”

I was becoming almost annoyed, since we had barely left Winthrop and we had a long ways to go to get over to Conconully. I stopped the vehicle and asked them to step outside for a moment.

I told them that as far as they could see and over all the hills and in all the valleys – including the North Cascade peaks in the distance – the land, trees, fish and wildlife were all public property, more or less, and managed by the U.S. Forest Service.

They were impressed that we have set aside so much in the public interest, and I was reminded what an incredible and unique treasure we have in our national forests.

Managing our 193 million acres of national forests and grasslands, including more than 9 million in Washington state, takes a lot of planning. In February, the U.S. Forest Service issued new draft management guidelines.

As users and owners of these public lands, we have a responsibility to review these guidelines and help establish management priorities. Hunters, anglers and other outdoor enthusiasts now have a chance to weigh in about how they want these lands managed and how to ensure the best possible outcome for fish, wildlife and recreation.

The new draft rule focuses on an adaptive management approach to forest planning, which should make the Forest Service more responsive to change and public involvement. Unfortunately, ambiguous language in the draft rule could allow the Forest Service to skip monitoring and evaluation, which in turn would undercut the whole adaptive management approach.

Because certain development activities are known to negatively affect the health of fish and wildlife species, the wildlife and sport-fishing community is greatly concerned about this monitoring loophole.

Equally troubling is the fact that the draft rule only seems to address species that have been classified as “species of conservation concern” by individual forest managers.

The rule should also require forest plans to show how they will provide for relatively common species enjoyed by the public, such as elk, deer, forest grouse, and trout.

The draft rule also fails to identify a minimum stream development buffer, opening the door to insufficient safeguards for salmon and trout streams and watersheds nationwide.

Given local political pressures for development in and around riparian areas, the Forest Service should stipulate a minimum 100-foot stream development buffer to protect land managers from the heat of politics.

Even better might be to prohibit all new developments within the flood plain.

Lastly, the draft rule appears to continue a current focus on only managing the most harmful kinds of logging practices, such as large clear-cuts, rather than directing forests to transition to more modern and ecologically beneficial timber practices, which could benefit fish and wildlife.

The Forest Service recently held public meetings in Seattle and Portland so citizens could learn more about this important process, but the agency will only accept formal comments in writing. With the deadline for written comments less than three weeks away, the Forest Service needs to hear from wildlife and outdoor recreation enthusiasts about what is important to them so that our public lands continue to provide outstanding fish and wildlife habitat and recreational opportunities.

Written comments may be mailed or emailed to the Forest Service by May 16. Information on the draft planning rule, as well as instructions for submitting written comments, can be found at www. govcomments.com or www.regulations.gov.